


Glimpses on The Rooftop - Dancetale AU

by CapriciousChronicler (WhimsicalWordsmith)



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Best Friends, F/M, Friendship, Gen, OC Makes Puns, Papyrus Hates Puns, Sans Makes Puns, Strangers to Friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-15
Updated: 2016-07-23
Packaged: 2018-07-24 06:09:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7496985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhimsicalWordsmith/pseuds/CapriciousChronicler
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When it happened for the first time, she insists it was an accident.<br/>Then, when it happened again, she paid no mind<br/>By the third time, however...<br/>...she's made it into a habit.</p><p>I have to (try to) write and get over this stupid block. UNDERTALE is Toby Fox's, I own nothing except the OCs. Crossposting AF with my Wattpad Account XD</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. PART 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: This [animation](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZFEGpYVK_c) was taking up brain space, and I'm obsessed as shit with it. It's pretty good, and this is the result. Also, I've been reading up on some of the plethora of Undertale AUs, and Dancetale is hella fave~!!! Basically its taking place on the surface, monster-human relations aren't that good, or bad, but its getting there, and my OC can't dance for shit XDD
> 
> I don't own anything except for my OC, Ash (lynne), and others. Swearing is also included.Enjoy!!! (??)

**o0o**

**_When it happened for the first time, she insists it was an accident._ **

"...And you're kicking me out...why?"

"Because!" her dolled up roommate whines, exasperated and inconsiderate of the hardly-slept-for-two-fucking-days-and-I've-got-three-fucking-centimeters-of-bags-below-my-eyes-to-prove-it state of said roommate. "I know you need your sleep, but the rec center has been booked, and I've been looking forward to do this event for months. _Months_ , I tell you."

Pinching the bridge of her nose hard, Ash - short for Ashlynne, and no, she's not a big fan of Pokemon - throws up her arms in the air and let out a frustrated yell as she looked around their shared apartment. Decorations covered the once pristine surfaces, a variety of foods and drinks were laid out on the dining table and kitchen counter, their stereo is blaring some type of sound Ash isn't sure is qualified to be music and lights of every neon color were flashing around the room.

Ash rolls her eyes upwards and prays for strength to hold back murderous intent for her roommate.

"Diane, there's literally at least...oh, I don't know, ten other fucking rooms you could've rented for this goddamn party. I just cleaned this apartment of the filth accumulated after your midterms. You have some volunteer or experiment-shit to do this week, I have a fuckton of quizzes coming up, and its already nine in the fucking evening. I need sleep and quiet for this fucking week. Look, " Ash quickly inhales, "just fucking move this thing next week. Y'know... _when we're both not swamped with school and shit!_ "

"Oh, live a little will you?" Diane trills, literally bouncing with barely restrained energy as she opened the door to welcome the first few guests arrived. Huffing, Ash grinds out a "Fine." before swiping a flashlight and a plateful of cream puffs and stomping towards the window. Ignoring the shrill cry of "ASH!", she grumbled along as she went up to the rooftop.

Reaching near the ledge, Ash puts up the plate of cream puffs and the flashlight before swinging herself up. "Live a little, my ass. The next thing I know, I'll be cold as balls in the morning and she's going to be in a goddamn holding cell for a fucking noise complaint." Ash grumbles bitterly, grabbing a handful of cream puffs and stuffing her face, uncaring as to who finds her there. When she finished, Ash gives off a small burp and makes her way to a set of steps near the roof top entrance. Sitting down, she pulls out a textbook and clicks on the flashlight, tuning out everything to concentrate on her studying.

**o0o**

It was the shuffling of shoes against concrete that broke her concentration minutes later.

Ash freezes in place, making sure she was just imagining it. Rubbing her eyes, she glanced at her watch with a big yawn and saw that it was now midnight.

_Holy--- I need to be in a coma right now. Being up for almost three days can do fucking wonders to the human body..._

Mentally groaning, Ash closed her book shut and turned off the flashlight before stowing them away in her bag. She jumps when she hears the shuffling noise again, becoming irritated instead.

_Then, who in fuck's sake is still up and making noises around here?_

Ash shakily stands, and takes a peek, immediately greeted with a confusing sight.

Someone was dancing to some inaudible beat, arms and legs in a fluid tandem, seemingly expressive yet restrained at the same time. What was confusing was that there was something floating around them, and after some more time, glowing bones appeared out of nowhere and just seemed to move along with whoever is dancing.

"...The fuck is going on?" she voices in confusion

Immediately, they stopped and looked straight at Ash. The bones disappeared, and as quickly as it went, the atmosphere became tense as Ash immediately remembers very vaguely about the monsters and how dancing is a part of their culture, and needs to be expressed in order to maintain a balanced lifestyle or something like that. Ash stares at the hooded newcomer - _literally pale as fuck, glowing blue eye, smiling like a creepy motherfucker. Yep, that's not human._ \- before smacking her forehead and let out a grunt. Fortunately - or unfortunately, depending on her words - Ash's sleep-addled brain was stringing a bunch of words together and slurred them to the stranger, hands waving about.

At that time, she felt like it was a legitimate form of apology.

"'M so sorry...So so so fucking sorry....'f 'nyone asks, I didn' see sh't, you don' f'ckin' know m'.... M'ybe y' w'nted t' dance on y'r own an' sh't...c'mpletely 'nderstand, kay bddy? This 's all an acciden', m'kay bra? S'all...some...stupid, sh'tty accident. I'm tired as balls, bro......seriously, im really sorr, kay? Maybe its some really, really private f'r you....'m sorry f'r interrupting....Bye, s'ya, please don' kill me, good night!"

Ash does a half-bow and waves, making sure not to make eye-contact as she staggers to the entrance and closes the door, stomping to the elevator so she could catch some z's in the lounge, mentally noting to smack herself for being a confusing and embarrassing piece of crap, as well as apologize more clearly to the monster.

_Oh, I don't even know their name...._

_......Goddamnit_

 


	2. PART 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Yeah, I don't know what I'm doing with my life. Also, [art](https://66.media.tumblr.com/c5de807486cf36d98bda0208b1ec9770/tumblr_o0dxe1iSyF1r3w9bqo1_500.jpg) belongs to Shuwappy. Check out their stuff. I own nothing, but Ash and Diane. ON WITH THE STORY~!!!

**o0o**

**_Then, when it happened again, she paid no mind..._ **

"I warned you, didn't I? I told you; I _fucking_ told you! Hell, _everyone_ told you! Your lab mate told you, your classmates told you, your tutorial people told you, your notes told you, you told you, even your goddamn _fish_ told you! And what did you do? What did you _fucking_ do?!"

"Ashlynne, look, I know that party weeks ago took some time off, but come on, I need your help for this one, and only this one."

"Diane, that last thing you said was exactly what you told me _three projects ago_ , disregarding the fact that this is an _individual_ assignment, and my brain space is filled with shit _I don't even need to know!!!_ "

"Come on, please? Pretty please??? With sugar on top?"

Ash looks straight at Diane, a deep frown on her face before she spat out a tired "Fuck no." and left via out of the fire escape again, largely ignoring the shrill cries and threats of her roommate about throwing her stuff out. Heaving herself upwards, she sits herself behind one of the pillars nearby before pulling out a cigarette and searched for a lighter, mumbling tiredly.

It's been around a month since the roof top meeting - Incident? Accidental spying? - and Ash had been looking for the monster who she met on the roof top to apologize to properly, between her classes and work. Not only that, but her roommate is lagging behind a lot on her coursework, and getting bribed to hell-and-back with food had been helpful. Up until she almost forgot her own work, and pretty much failed two quizzes, and didn't show up for a lecture. She was tired as fuck, and took a weekend and some days to reorganize her school life.  

Unfortunately, the campus has been little to not-at-all helpful in her search, and there's only so much questions she can ask without making it seem like a stalker or something equally creepy. Then again, her oh so helpful description of "kinda short, really pale and wearing blue hoodie and grey dancey-pants" is hella unhelpful.

" _Fuck!_ " she exclaims with vitriol after several unsuccessful trials of lighting her cigarette. Huffing in frustration, she proceeds to calm herself down by flicking her lighter on and off, watching the sparks as she chews on her cigarette. Ash prides herself in being molded for patience, but there's only so much she can take. 

Sighing, she watches as the sun sets and lets the noise of the city lull her to sleep.

**o0o**

The roof top's door hinges are seriously noisy fuckers.

Cringing as the metallic squeak interrupted her thoughts, Ash blinks herself awake and sits up properly. The cigarette she's been chewing is just a mushy mess of paper, chewed up filter and wet tobacco. Spitting it out, Ash thought of returning to the apartment, but decided against it. Knowing her roommate, the whole place is most likely a mess of notes and food. Ash stood to stretch and relieve her stiff neck, moving out of her spot.

And was met with a frightened and angry look from the same monster a month ago.

_Well...awkward..._

After several minutes later, it was the monster who broke first, quickly turning around to exit. 

"W-wait!" 

The monster stiffens and looks back at her, one eye glowing. 

"H-hey, hey man... Look, I..." Huffing in annoyance, Ash waves her arm around. "I...just want to say sorry...properly, this time." At the monster's - _Oh...No, wait its an actual skeleton..._ , Ash mentally corrects herself, seeing the unmistakable nose-hole thing skeletons usually have - blank stare under the hood, Ash rambles on. "Y'know about a month ago, I was here, you were here, and..uh...I had no sleep, and you were dancing, and _I didn't see anything and never told anyone, I swear on my life!_ " she quickly adds just as the blue glow went brighter and started flaming. "I...Uhh, I know that dancing is you guys' thing, and..uh...I...just wanted to say that...if you..uh, I guess didn't want anyone else to see you dancing, you can..." Shrugging at the open area between her and the skeleton, Ash sucked in a breath. "...dance away. A-and, don't worry, I'm not gonna look or pay attention and shit. In fact, I'll just sit here like a damn plant, and watch the city. Kinda can't go back to my apartment yet, cause my roommate's on a fucking bender trying to finish her course work and stuff. Anywho, I'll probably end up sleeping back at the lounge again. Not like it's uncomfortable and stuff...and...and I'm rambling again, okayfinesorryI'lljustleaveyoutoyourdancinghavefunandpleasedon'tkillme." Ash finishes off, sitting herself back down and watches the city lights.

Minutes later, she becomes very vaguely aware of the increasing sound of soles on concrete, bright cyan glowing from behind her, and the seemingly shift to a somber yet kind of upbeat atmosphere to accommodate the dancing monster and the glowing bones that she knows would go in tandem with his moves. Ash peeks from time to time, impressed at some of the flips and slides before shaking her head and looking out again, covering her mouth as she yawns.

She told him she was going to be like a damn plant, and that's what she's going to be.

She's heard of classmates talk about monsters and their varying types of dances, and how monsters and humans would bond by dancing together, each trying to match the other and apparently, just having a good time as they dance it out.  
She'd really want to see it in person.  
Participating in one would be a bit of a stretch, though  
_Man, he looks like he's having a really good time..._ Ash thinks, shifting her position to let her legs dangle over the edge, thinking of the seemingly permanent smile on the skeleton's face as the night went on.

**o0o**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:...#NoWordsForThisGarbage #Weeps


	3. PART 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Huge hullabaloo, and long story short, there's an impromptu travelling, and it's hard getting Wi-fi anywhere...literally, wtf is this shit....  
> Any who, I'm so glad (and kinda sad) that I'm gonna finish this...then-three-now-four...shot. As always, [art](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/13/2c/c2/132cc270fd60a42903c94cab9093cd32.jpg) is by hisuiii. I don't own anything besides the OCS. Enjoy~!

**o0o**

_**By the third time,** _ _**however....** _

"HELLO? IS ANYONE HERE?"

Startled, Ash drops some metal bowls, the loud clatter startling the new customer with a loud "N-NYEEEEEHH!"

Cursing under her breath, she quickly checked the time - 6:30 pm - before gathering the bowls and stacking them onto a nearby table before half-running to the cash register, ready to calm down the customer down.  
And is met with quite a sight.

If memory serves her right, the pint-sized ballerina staring at her plate of chocolate chip cookies from behind the glass is Frisk, the ambassador of monsters. Accompanied by a tall goat lady, a tall skeleton, a bluish-gray bipedal rabbit, an orange bipedal cat, a tiny yellow lizard - dinosaur? - and a...blue, fins-for-ears lady, staring and "ooh"-ing at their surroundings before giving Ash unreadable looks.

Immediately snapping back to business-mode, Ash gives them a smile before announcing. 

"Hi, welcome to the Daring Delights. You crave it, we make it. How may I be of service?" 

"OH, HELLO, HUMAN!" The tall skeleton walks forward, eyes - _What the--how is that possible?!_ , Ash internally queries - trained on her. "I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE A PLATE OF SPAGHETTI AND A GLASS OF MILK! IF YOU PLEASE!"

Ash blinks.

"Mmm!" The monster ambassador points at the same plate of cookies they've been staring since they've entered. 

"Hey, human! Got any soup with veggies in it? Alphys and I want some of that!" The blue lady grins at her, all sharp teeth and a maddening glint in her eye - a sharp contrast to the yellow...reptile, who gives Ash a shy and unsure smile.

"I'll have a...oh, boy!" Ash swivels her head to see an excited bunny looking at all the ice cream choices listed down. "There's a lot of new choices here that I'm not sure what to pick! Hmmmm... Can I have a combination of the blue swirled ice cream and the green ice cream with dots, please ?"

The tall goat lady smiles kindly at her. "Would a slice of your...ah, mixed berry pie be alright to purchase, my child?"

"...Anything that doesn't require you too much effort to make, little buddy..." the cat grumbles, stomping at the nearest seat before resting his head between his arms.

Ash blinks before sucking in a breath. She doesn't question the meals monsters want to eat, but she wonders sometimes at some point. 

"Uh...Alright then...Spaghetti and milk for Papyrus, a plate of chocolate chip cookies for the ambassador" - Ash snickers at the light blush coating the child's face - "large Veggie Works soup for the couple, Ice cream combo for Mr. Rabbit, and some milk for the kitty cat. Got it. Anything else?"  
Shaking her head, the goat lady paid for their meals and waited as Ash practically flew back inside the kitchen to start making their meals.

**o0o**

"IT'S....SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOOOOOOOD!"

"W-Wow....t-this s-s-soup...is so sugoi~!!!" "...Meh, could be better." "U-undyne!" 

"Huh.... his milk's not that bad, kiddo. It's pretty great."

"Oh, my! This pie is simply delightful, my child! Would it be alright to ask for a recipe on how to make this?"

Ash blushes a bright red at their compliments, absently scratching the nape of her neck as she thanks them endlessly. Afterwards, Frisk's determined persuasion coupled with Papyrus' begging eyes pushes Toriel to purchases the rest of the treats to bring with them to the festival. Of course, Ash was ecstatic, but seeing the total amount all packaged together?

Yikes.

"...Hey, I-it's not going to be much of a trouble for me, but would you guys prefer getting a ride?" Ash questions as she hangs up her work clothes and puts on her hoodie. "Mt. Ebott's kinda far from here, and I'd rather see you guys arrive to the festival on time."

"Oh, but won't you have to get home, my child?" 

Shrugging, Ash starts lifting some of the packed treats in her arms. "Nah. It doesn't matter anyway. My roommate's actually attending the festival, so she needs me to get home. Last I checked, buses don't usually run this late or as far as near the mountain."

Ash leads the group to the parking lot where her pickup truck sat

"THAT'S YOUR CAR!? WOWIE, IT'S NOTHING LIKE ANY CAR I'VE EVER SEEN BEFORE!!" 

Ash laughs at the awed look on Papyrus' face as she and the fish lady - who introduced herself as Undyne - packed the food at the back seat. Seeing them glance warily at the empty space behind the truck, Ash huffs out a laugh. "I made sure to put some seat belts on there because my friends can be a bit rowdy when we travel. Cushions are right there, and there's a couple of blankets if you guys get cold. The seat beside mine up front is still available. Who wants to sit there?" 

"OH, ME! CAN I SIT UP THERE, HUMAN?! PLEASE? OH, PLEASE, PLEASE PLEEEEAAASSSSEEEE?????"

Nodding to Papyrus, Ash signals him to go ahead as she fastens the seat belts on everyone and passed out some blankets, making sure everyone was safe. Starting the car and reversing it to make a small curve in order to meet the road, Ash chuckles at Papyrus' excited face.

"Alright, Mt. Ebbot, here we come!"

**o0o**

If Ashlynne thought Papyrus was loud, the festival would equate to approximately a hundred or so of him.

Monsters and several humans were mingling and dancing, and she couldn't help but stare at them as they moved together, some gracefully, and others a bit...wonkily. There were modest decorations and there were some kids - both human and monsters - trading items and telling stories. Mats were spread out on the side as some elderly were chatting up a storm, the smell of food and the fun atmosphere pumping her up.

"Yo, kid. If you're done staring, we need some help with these treats you've got!"

Groaning, Ash made a face at Undyne to hide her flush, grabbing some boxes and laid it out for everyone to enjoy. Monsters and humans alike - especially those who know her - cheered when they saw her wares and excitedly shared them with each other, heaping compliments onto her, making Ash retreat into her hoodie with a flushed face. Frisk took pity on her, and grabbing her hand, lead Ash out to watch some of the performances.

Some of them, Frisk participated. On others, they merely watched. After several more dancing events - with Ash politely declining when asked - Frisk asks her why she doesn't dance.

"I can't dance, kiddo." Ash sighs, sitting on a log and staring up at the moon. If she had to guess, it's already past midnight, and her body's gonna have a tough time reorganizing her sleeping schedule "And no, it's not a whole tragic accident thing. I've got four retired dance teachers to prove that my coordination doesn't exist, yeah?"

Whatever Frisk was going to say got interrupted with as a bunch of people suddenly started dancing to a beat. Naturally, a small crowd forms around them, the cheering getting louder as the atmosphere was getting more upbeat.

It suddenly occurred to Ash that this is actually a dance-off, with the crowd closing them both in with no way out. Before she knew it, Ash felt Frisk's hands grab her arm. She hears the kid whisper a shocked " _Sans?!_ " before turning to see who was dancing so well to make the monsters whistle loudly before her eyes widen in shock. Standing at about a head taller than Frisk, the identifiable cyan glow, seemingly permanent smile and skeleton nose-hole glues Ash to her seat as he moves with grace and agility that no other dancer seems to have. 

She can't exactly look away because that might just seem rude, and although the other dancers managed to snag her attention, Sans the only one who managed to steal both her attention _and_ focus. 

 _Fucking fuckity fuck... he looks hella awesome...and_ _he's_ _so good at dancing, too..._ , Ash mentally groans, running a hand down her face. Even though it was the skeleton's choice to perform in front of everyone, Ash thinks back to the privacy they both shared on the rooftop, and wants to avoid any more awkward encounters with him.

A text message from Diane robbed her the opportunity of getting away. And with Frisk and company crowding around Sans before heading her way, Ash decided to grab a few prayer books and incense tomorrow in order to appease any diety she's pissed off.

Or maybe it's just bad luck...

_Double fucking fuckity_ _fuck_ _..._

**o0o**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: ONE MORE TO GO!!!!


	4. PART 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Honestly, I've lost control of my life. This AU dragged me to hell and back. But I wouldn't have it any other way. [Art](http://i.imgur.com/PNZsd1W.png) by somnicat. Here's the last itty-bit Enjoy~!

**o0o**

**_...she's made it into a habit_ **

"OH, HUMAN!! HUMAN, HUMAN, HUMAAAAAAN!!!"

Ash apprehensively smiles at Papyrus, but it looked like a grimace. Sighing as she's resigned to her fate, she tries to smile brightly again.

"Hey, Papyrus. N...nice outfit." She greets him, aiming her look at the patch of flowers near his feet.  
_Crap, I really, really really can't do this right now._

"OH, THANK YOU, HUMAN! FRISK PICKED IT OUT FOR ME. APPARENTLY, IT MAKES ME LOOK REALLY COOL! NO WONDER YOU CAN'T LOOK STRAIGHT AT ME!" The taller skeleton replied, wagging his eyebrows at her. 

Ash threw her head back with a laugh. Snickering, she replies, "Alright, Papyrus. I think you look cool. So cool you could withstand the snow. Like pine trees in a cold place. A place filled with snow"

"OH, I KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN! THERE'S A LOT OF THEM IN OUR PLACE BACK AT SNOWDIN!"

"Hmmm...Guess you're...uh...gonna have to change your name then."

"HUH?"

"Hello there.... Pa- _pine_ -rus..." Ash shoots a sly grin at him.

Watching Papyrus lose his head at that - _Wow, he could_ _outshriek_ _a banshee..._ \- and stomp away with Frisk and company at his heels sent her in a laughing fit.

And she wasn't the only one.

A slightly loud, and deep raspy laugh sounds behind her, and sure enough, the short skeleton is curled into himself, wheezing as he wipes tears from his eyes...ockets. 

"I see you have a fine taste for high quality humour." He finally says later, wiping the last of his tears. Looking up at her, his grin widens. " _That_...was a really good one."

"Thanks, _small fry_. I try my best."

"Ooh, that's a _low_ blow."

"Wow, a _tiny_ comeback? I know you can do better."

"Nah. I just _came up short_ on what else to tell you."

"YOU ALL SICKEN ME!! SANS, MY NON-EXISTENT EARS HAVE BEEN ASSAULTED WITH YOUR STUPID JOKES! HUMAN, WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS! YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER THAN TO BEFALL TO MY BROTHER'S WAYS!! OH, WOE IS ME!!"

Raising a brow, Ash looks at the distance between them and Papyrus. "He can hear that far? We weren't even yelling..."

"Yep, that's Papyrus. Can hear puns from about a mile away..." he quiets down by the end, kicking up the dirt. Ash sighs. 

 _Awkward atmospheres really are unavoidable_. She thinks.

"...So, nice to finally put a name to a hooded face." Ash says, wincing at the tiny flinch in his shoulders. "Sorry, yeah. Uh, we never really...uh, talked about it, huh?"

"Y-yeah..." Seeing a skeleton suddenly frown was a lot more disarming than Ash thought. "It...uhm...I-it's was actually...for this...thing....uhm...h-heh..."

"Ah. I see. Well, uh....you're dancing's really good. Made it seem like your practice wasn't needed at all."

An imaginary brow raises before a small smile appears on Sans face. Approaching a log, he sits down, facing an open field. "Funny. Been looking at me while I was performing? Tsk, tsk. Thought you promised you weren't gonna look and be 'like a plant'."

"Hey, now." Ash smiles, following suit and pulling over his hoodie with a chuckle. "Can't help it if the dancing's real good. You were really amazing. Like, super duper amazing. Besides, plants can look anywhere they want. All they do is give out air we breathe. And, I only promised that one time. Doesn't apply in here, does it?"

"Doesn't change the fact you were looking." Sans replies, hiding the hint of cyan blush on his face.  
"Glimpsing. I only glimpsed, not look. Looking is longer than glimpsing. Besides, glimpses aren't not allowed around here." Ash rectifies, followed by a slight giggle. 

"Okay, you were glimpsing. But glimpsing usually means long intervals between looking and should total to less than the total amount of time looking. I don't think you were doing that back there."

"Its a habit, Sans." Ash smirks. "Comes with working at a café on slow days."

"And apparently with monsters who were dancing on rooftops, tall fry?"

"Rooftops are for everyone, Skelly. It's a free-for-all kind of space."

And they bantered on for several more minutes, oblivious to Sans' friends staring...

**o0o**

"Wow."

Sans looks up and sees the human look dazedly at the sky. "What's wrong, kiddo?"

Letting out a chuckle, she points up, a wan smile on her face as the moon was starting to set. "We were actually having a literal argument on the difference between glimpses and looking for hours, Skelly. What in the actual heck?"

"Sans, is this _actually_ Miss TALKS-A-LOT!?!?!?!?"

Metallic arms picks Ashlynne off the log, and then she comes face to face with the new star celebrity, Mettaton.

"Uhmmm....hello?"

Ashlynne was suddenly being shaken, coddled, complimented and fangirl-ed over. Being very tired from her work that day, all she could clearly hear were phrases that didn't make any sense. Things like, "You brought him back!", "Never imagined this!!", "Good to see him smile again!", and "Never been _this_ whole!"

"Uuuurrgghhh..." she groans, head reeling as she gets dropped unceremoniously to the ground.

"Ah...uh...sorry about that. Meeting Mettaton can be...well, rough, I suppose."

"Why...does _everyone_...have _so_ much freaking energy?"

"Magic?" Sans offers.

"Pfff, and what? Being "whole" has got something to do with magic, too?"

The silence lasted longer than it should, and Ash groans again. "For fuck's sake, I'm a fucking idiot who needs some fucking sleep..."

"I-it's kind of...related to magic actually." Sans replies carefully, still hiding under his hood. "Uhmmm, you uh....do know that dancing is a part of our culture that celebrates both our diversity and commonalities, right? We dance to express ourselves and to bond with others. It keeps us and our SOULs healthy and...well balanced, I guess. And bonding is a more...uh...personal version of the dance-off you saw. If the SOULs of participants click, then it's all cool. If not, then..." Sans trails off.

"Something happened to make you stop dancing. Something that made you lose...yourself....?" Ash finishes quietly, seeing Sans' gaze trained on Frisk. Sighing, she pats the skeleton's hood covered-head.

"..."

"If you don't want to, don't talk about it. Sorry I brought it up, okay? Didn't mean to." Ash grins before yawning and sliding down to the ground, leaning back against the log.

"Actually, I wanted to thank you, kiddo." 

Tipping her head back and sideways, Ashlynne sees the recognizable cyan glow on Sans face. "...The fuck why?"

"Because you didn't rat me out? Well, you asking people and monsters around was a bit of a bother, but you didn't push beyond that."

"Hey, I had school and work! I woulda done mo--."

"Wait, just let me finish. I...uhm, I just...you...uh, I just wanted to say thanks for the roof space, and for leaving me alone to do my dancing. I kinda saw you around sometimes, but I never really...I just...wanted to stop feeling like crap all the time, y'know? It was kinda getting too much, everyone asking me if I was okay even though they know I'm not. I wanna leave the past behind me, and I just...you let me have that...moment. It was just me and the stars those nights y'know? Heh, well...me, the stars, and a sleepless human pretending to be a plant. But, seriously....thanks."

A beat passes between them before Ash opens her mouth.

"...Holy _shit_ , dude."

Sans startles at the awed look from the teen. Sweating profusely, Sans chuckles apprehensively. "C'mon, kid. I poured my heart out to ya, and this is the response I get?"

"N-no! No, no....it's just..." Biting her lip, Ash shields her eyes. "...I know how you feel, yeah? Everywhere you go, you feel pretty trapped. And even if you were with others, you feel alone. Isolated and cut-off from the world. You think you're doing something wrong, and you keep asking yourself why. It's like the whole world's on your shoulders and you've got all the responsibilities and you gotta be there for everyone. But...no one's really there for you....not even yourself."

Laughing, Ash gestures between them. "Shit, we go off the deep end when I'm fucking tired as bones and you're....I dunno, how you feeling, Skelly?"

" _Bone_ -a fide tired, too, kid." Sans replies wih a yawn as he stands.

"Ashlynne."

"Huh?"

"Well, ya gotta have my name at some point. I'm not kid, kiddo, chick, man, dude, bro, homie, buddy, chum, pal, home slice, bread slice, and...uh...stuff."

Nodding, Sans looks on as Ashlynne tried to stand up and stretch.

 _Tried_ was the keyword.

Unfortunately, she stood up too fast and ended up landing on her face on the ground, a muffled yet pained groan coming from the prone figure.

"Hmmm...so, can I just call you _Crash_ -lynne instead?"

"Sans, as soon as I'm on my feet, I'll have a _bone_ to pick with you."

"Bring it on, _slug_.

"Shut your trap, Oh _Vertically Challenged One_."

"NYEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHH!!! QUIET BOTH OF YOU!!!"

**o0o**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: IT'S FINALLY DONE!!! /FUCK YASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!! LORD, the ending was such a pain and hassle to write. Seriously, what even. Thanks for reading this garbage, and have a nice day/night.


End file.
